Clinton tells Black Lives Matter activists: ‘You’re not going to change every heart’

In a newly released video, Democratic presidential front-runner Hillary Clinton is seen video advising Black Lives Matter activists to define the movement’s agenda but warning them that they are “not going to change every heart.”

“All I’m saying is, your analysis is totally fair, it’s historically fair, it’s psychologically fair, it’s economically fair. But you’re going to have to come together as a movement and say, ‘Here’s what we want done about it,’ ” Clinton says to a few members of the movement in the video posted by GOOD Magazine.

{mosads}”Because you can get lip service from as many white people as you can pack into Yankee Stadium and a million more like it,” Clinton adds later. “Even for us sinners, find some common ground on agendas that can make a difference right here and now in people’s lives.”

Clinton met with the group of Boston-area Black Lives Matter activists last week after they were shut out of an event in the early voting state of New Hampshire that they planned to protest. A spokesman said they watched from an overflow room and met with Clinton afterward.

“I don’t believe you change hearts. I believe you change laws, you change allocation of resources, you change the way systems operate,” Clinton continues later in the exchange.

“You’re not going to change every heart. You’re not,” Clinton said, adding some things could be done on the policy side to bring about changes.

Several Democratic presidential candidates have had events interrupted by members of the group, including Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley. Sanders and his campaign have since reached out to members of the group to set up a formal meeting.

Members of the group who met with Clinton spoke about the experience during an interview on MSNBC’s “The Rachel Maddow Show” Monday night with Melissa Harris-Perry, who aired segments of the video.

Julius Jones said Clinton “was ducking personal responsibility for the role that her and her family played” in laws pushed by the Bill Clinton administration that affected mass incarceration.

Daunasia Yancey also said the exchange served as a moment of reflection for Clinton, adding, “her response really targeting on policy wasn’t sufficient for us.”